A hacker group with alleged ties to Russia, known as Dark Storm, has claimed responsibility for a massive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that temporarily disrupted access to social media platform X on March 10. Although functionality was quickly restored, thousands of users initially reported being unable to access the site.

Cybersecurity firm SpyoSecure reported that Dark Storm’s leader announced the attack on their now-deleted Telegram channel. Screenshots circulating on X show the group stating they “took Twitter offline,” alongside images of failed connection attempts from multiple global locations.

“To anyone wondering why X (Twitter) was down, it was under attack by Dark Storm Team.” — SpyoSecure posted on X.

Dark Storm has been linked to cyber campaigns targeting NATO countries and has been active since 2023.

X’s owner, Elon Musk, confirmed the cyberattack in a March 10 interview with Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow, stating that the platform is frequently targeted but this attack was unusually large-scale.

“There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X. We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved,” Musk wrote on X.

Musk also suggested that initial traces of the attack’s IP addresses pointed to the Ukraine region, though further investigation is ongoing.

The attack on X coincides with rising tensions at Tesla, where protests have emerged under the “Take Down Tesla” movement. Demonstrators are opposing Musk’s controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a cost-cutting initiative that is eliminating certain government programs.

This isn’t the first time X has faced a major cyberattack. In August 2024, Musk claimed hackers attempted to disrupt the platform ahead of his interview with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.